10 things about the loonie !

1. The duck is actually a loon.

2. And yes, the word ‘loonie’ comes from the loon.

3. The selection of that bird as a symbol for our coin is an accident. The original dies (the pieces that strike the blank piece that will become a coin) were stolen in 1986 and had to be replaced by another image.

4. Here is the original image intended for the loonie…well not loonie…but you know what I mean.

Source : numicanada.ca

5. In 2012, a change in the alloy used to produce the 1 dollar coin made it 0.73g lighter…and it is fooling old Coke machines ever since.

6. The Royal Canadian Mint ages the queen once in a while…I wonder if she appreciates.

7. The coin is struck in Winnipeg.

8. French-Canadians, when referring to the loonie, use the term piasse, which is a deformation of piastre. The piastre was an old Spanish coin that was used when we were colonies. Even the French version of our constitution mentions that word. Funny enough, that ancient term is used in article 23rd of our Constitution when referring to the Senators…this makes me smile. By the way, there is no explanation of the mispronunciation from piastre to piasse…that just part of their charm.

9. A Lucky Loonie was hidden under the ice of the hockey rink at the Salt Lake City Olympics games by the Canadian company contracted to maintain it. Our hockey teams won gold that year! As for the Vancouver games, more loonies where placed into the foundations of many buildings and we ended up winning the most gold medals of any country in the history of the winter Olympics. Don’t believe in the power of the Lucky Loonie ? The 1 dollar was dug out after the game and was absent for the Paralympics…and we didn’t win.

10. The village of Echo Bay, located in the township of Macdonald Meredith & Aberdeen Additional has a Big Loonie. It should make the town 20 times more valuable than Sudbury who has a ¢5.

Source : echobay.ca

Yes, the Macdonald Meredith & Aberdeen Additional inspires me to write a post on town names in Canada.